


road trip

by acornpockets



Series: RDHD [1]
Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Just boys being friends, Punk Band Au, Road Trip, a very elaborate au that me and the boys came up with, it was originally in the early 2000s but javier is using a smartphone and i just dont know anymore, the band is called road head
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:27:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21625309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acornpockets/pseuds/acornpockets
Summary: The van had been uncharacteristically quiet despite being full to the brim, the air thick with tobacco smoke, body odor, and cheap air freshener. They’re driving down a mostly deserted highway, surrounded by long, seemingly endless expanses of dry, arid grassland. The van was ancient; they bought it used almost a decade ago, and if it weren’t for Arthur, it’d have fallen apart countless times by now. It was an ugly brown color beneath all the paint, but decorated colorfully, with ‘ROAD HEAD’ spray-painted on its side.
Relationships: Arthur Morgan & John Marston & Javier Escuella & Sean MacGuire & Kieran Duffy, Javier Escuella/Dutch van der Linde (implied/teased?), Javier Escuella/Tilly Jackson (mentioned), Sean MacGuire/Karen Jones (mentioned)
Series: RDHD [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558618
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	road trip

**Author's Note:**

> An introduction to the punk au that me and the boys came up with. As the title implies, this one's just a road trip. It's not a lazy title, because the band is called Road Head, and it's a play on words, right?
> 
> The next part is coming soon, it's already written and just needs the last rounds of editing. After that, it might be a bit of a wait, but things are in the works!

“You nasty motherfucker!” 

The van had been uncharacteristically quiet despite being full to the brim, the air thick with tobacco smoke, body odor, and cheap air freshener. They’re driving down a mostly deserted highway, surrounded by long, seemingly endless expanses of dry, arid grassland. The van was ancient; they bought it used almost a decade ago, and if it weren’t for Arthur, it’d have fallen apart countless times by now. It was an ugly brown color beneath all the paint, but decorated colorfully, with ‘ROAD HEAD’ spray-painted on its side. 

The five of them have been on the road for hours — Kieran driving, Sean riding shotgun, and Arthur, John, and Javier squeezed into the back seat. They argued every time over that seating arrangement, but Sean always managed to beat them to the van, and Javier refused to be caught in between John and Arthur’s squabbling. Between Arthur’s bulk and John’s long, bony limbs, the back seat was chaos. 

John had leaned forward and spit into an empty cup nestled between the two front seats, hacking a mixture of saliva and snuff into the sticky dregs of a soft drink finished days ago. It was Arthur who’d recoiled, shouting in disgust. John just rolls his eyes. 

“I ain’t the one smokin’ in the car,” he barks back. “You keep blowin’ that shit in my face—” 

“Well, if Kieran’d let me open the goddamn window—” 

“So you can stick John’s head out again?” Kieran's focused on the road ahead of him, but that doesn’t keep him from telling Arthur off. “We can’t afford to have him gettin’ decapitated.” 

Sean is sitting quietly beside him, legs crossed and hands folded behind his head. There's a smug expression on his face, like he knows something that puts him above everyone else. 

"What're you so fuckin' happy about, kid?" John is still leaning into the front seat, half-glaring at Sean.

"Nothin'," Sean answers, smugly. His smile doesn't waver for a second. "I'm behavin' meself." 

John just snorts, and sits back before Kieran has time to scold him. 

“When are we going back to Blackwater?” Javier looks up from his phone just momentarily, either having managed to avoid the situation entirely, or been completely ignorant to it. Kieran opens his mouth to answer him, eager to change the subject, but Sean beats him to it.

“Why? You eager to see _Tilly_ again?” he asks, each syllable drawn out by sing-song mockery. He twists in his seat, straining to peer over the back of it without removing his seatbelt, and grins back at Javier like the goddamn Cheshire cat. “Or _Duuutch-_ ”

“Sean, sit down,” Kieran’s tone is almost pleading, less out of concern for Sean’s safety, and moreso because he doesn’t want to go through _this_ again. 

Javier just smiles back. “What about you? You looking forward to seeing _Karen_ again?” He mimics Sean's accent, mimes thrusting his hips, and that sends Sean into howling laughter.

“I _love_ ya, Javier!” Sean continues laughing, sitting sideways in his seat and slapping his knee. Kieran glances over, his shoulders becoming impossibly more hunched. 

“Sean, _sit down_.” His pleading tone has been replaced by something firm and commanding, and Javier whistles. 

“You better listen to him, baby boy, ‘fore he _makes_ you.”

“Aw, shut up,” Sean grumbles. He rolls his eyes, but resettles in his seat, and Kieran seems satisfied. 

“Two more days,” Kieran finally answers, his focus returning to the road. “Tonight’s Stillwater, then Man-zanita—”

“ _Manzanita_ ,” Javier corrects him.

“Right,” Kieran answers. “Then Blackwater.” 

Javier nods thoughtfully. “Alright…” He trails off.

They keep driving. Arthur has fallen silent, staring pointedly out of the window with his arms crossed over his chest. Kieran eyes him through the rear view mirror, scrunches up his nose, clearly contemplating whether or not to address this hopeless dilemma. 

Finally, he sighs. “You gonna behave yourself back there?” 

Arthur grunts. “I _am_ behavin’,” he retorts, then grumbles something inaudible. 

“What was that?” Kieran asks. Arthur rolls his eyes. 

“ _Nothin’_.” He says it with finality, and that’s that.

They continue their drive in silence.


End file.
